Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning Sells 800 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning reduced its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 13.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,013 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. USCF Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2,942.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $157.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.78.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $97.69 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $116.86 and its 200 day moving average is $122.73. The firm has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.84. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $92.29 and a 52-week high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.18%.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.